State and Federal laws provide that persons charged with a crime may be released from incarceration upon the posting of an appropriate security for their appearance. This security is called a “bail” or “bond” in many jurisdictions, but, for purposes of this section, the term “bail” shall refer to all pledged security processes. Historically, bail was provided in one of three ways: 1) a cash amount provided to the court or incarcerator; 2) a surety posted by a third party (traditionally called a “bail bondsman”); or 3) a “property bond” could be placed.
A “property bond” is a term of art in the legal field referring to the voluntary accretion of a lien upon real estate to secure the appearance of someone charged with a crime. The process of presenting an acceptable “property bond” to the corrections authority has not changed since the concept was instituted, over one hundred years ago. However, known property bond processes suffer from several inherent complications and deficiencies, including, but not limited to, the following: 1) establishing ownership of the property in question; 2) establishing appropriate equity in the property equivalent to the amount of bail requested; 3) formally establishing the lien and attaching the lien to the property, 4) releasing the lien upon appearance; and 5) insuring that the individual presenting the lien is authorized to alien the subject property.
Therefore, a need exists for a system and associated methods for implementing electronic property bond payments as is disclosed herein. The within and foregoing systems and associated methods circumvent these known complications, and provides a process for the electronic implementation, confirmation, and release of such security.